Anderson shows glimpse of the future

Thursday 1 January 2009 00:08 BST

James Anderson savoured his maiden five-wicket haul against Australia, having established England's ability to dominate even without a major contribution from their influential all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

Anderson took five for 80 and Graham Onions four for 58 to help dismiss Australia for a modest 263 on the second day of the third npower Ashes Test at Edgbaston. The two seamers' success helped England claim a dominant position, and they progressed to 116 for two at the close.

"It's going to be a team effort throughout the whole series, and we can't just rely on one or two people to get the runs and wickets," said Anderson. "We know we're all going to have to chip in from time to time. More than one person chipped in at Lord's, but obviously 'Fred' took the plaudits on the last day."

While Anderson and Onions utilised prodigious swing to unsettle Australia, Flintoff finished wicketless as the tourists lost seven in the morning session - having resumed on 126 for one.

Their display was reminiscent of the manner in which England terrorised Australia with reverse swing four years ago en route to their stunning Ashes triumph.

"In the warm-up it swung quite a bit, so we thought if we can look after the ball it might swing for a good period of time - and luckily it did that," said Anderson, who claimed five for 13 in 38 balls either side of lunch.

"If the ball is swinging and you bowl well I think most teams in the world are going to have to play very well to cope with it. I thought we bowled consistently well with it."

England's dominance left captain Ricky Ponting, who reached the 25 runs he needed to pass Allan Border's record of 11,174 runs to become Australia's Test run-scorer, with mixed feelings.

"I've been around the game for a long time and been fortunate enough to break some milestones and records along the way," said Ponting.

"It's something I will look back on more when my career is over, or even when this Test match is over, but at the moment it is a bitter-sweet feeling."